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A review by akizato
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology by Shane Hawk, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Really great anthology, with some stories resonating with me harder than others. Note if you're reading the reviews before reading yourself: there are some triggering topics in some of the stories. I'll use a spoiler tag here if you want to remain unspoiled. As well as the usual horror collection tropes like body horror and gore, there are a few stories with some on-page depiction of things like child rape (story title: Sundays- and this happens immediately at the start of the story), forced abortion (story title: White Hills), pretty graphic torture (story title: Limbs), and depiction of severe psychosis leading to murder (title: The Prepper, though it's told in a past tense by the person involved that makes it clear what the person is experiencing was not real).
Overall, I really liked it! My favourite stories were:
- Kushtuka by Mathilda Zeller (very strong opener!)
- Hunger by Phoenix Boudreau
- Snakes Are Born in the Dark by DH Trujillo
- Scariest. Story. Ever by Richard Van Camp
- Dead Owls by Mona Susan Power
- Sundays by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
- The Scientist's Horror Story by Darcie Little Badger (too real as someone with a life sciences degree)
- Collections by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala
Overall, I really liked it! My favourite stories were:
- Kushtuka by Mathilda Zeller (very strong opener!)
- Hunger by Phoenix Boudreau
- Snakes Are Born in the Dark by DH Trujillo
- Scariest. Story. Ever by Richard Van Camp
- Dead Owls by Mona Susan Power
- Sundays by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
- The Scientist's Horror Story by Darcie Little Badger (too real as someone with a life sciences degree)
- Collections by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala
Graphic: Violence, Rape, Child abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Murder, Torture, Abortion, Body horror, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Vomit, Animal death, Classism, Colonisation, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship